Delcry Rodriguez (@DrodriguezVen) is the Venezuelan Foreign Minister. Her equivalent in rank in the U.S. Government is Secretary of State John Kerry.

A few weeks back, Western Hemisphere Assistant Secretary Roberta Jacobson (@WHAAsstSecty) tweeted four items on Venezuela. Note that she is the top diplomat at the State Department’s Western Hemisphere Affairs bureau. She reports to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs (“P”) Wendy Sherman, who in turn is outranked by the Deputy Secretary of State Higginbottom (D/MR) and Deputy Secretary Blinken (D) who both report directly to Secretary of State Kerry.

So when Foreign Minister Rodriguez took on Assistant Secretary Jacobson on Twitter, one has to wonder, what was she thinking? Asst Secretary Jacobson is a top official at the WHA bureau but nowhere near the rank of a foreign minister. Can you imagine Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arguing publicly with the State Department’s Toria Nuland from the EUR bureau? No. Can you imagine Secretary Kerry sparring publicly with a lower-ranked official from the Venezuelan foreign ministry? Nope.

So every time the foreign minister opens her mouth to argue, berate or call the WHA diplomat names, we’ll award the diplomatic heavyweight championship belt to the assistant secretary. Assistant Secretary Jacobson wins simply by being in the same ring with Foreign Minister Rodriguez.

Deeply concerned by what appears to be escalation of intimidation of opponents by govt. of #Venezuela by rounding up opposition. (1/4)

Update: The Guardian reported early this morning that USAID official Kevin Sturr was released to the embassy “late last night”after security forces broke up a press conference in Kinshasa attended by activists, journalists and musicians. The African activists detained with him are reportedly still in custody.

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A U.S. diplomat was reportedly detained by the Democratic Republic of the Congo security forces following a raid that targeted journalists and regional democracy activists in the capital city of Kinshasa. Media reports, quoting a government spokesman say that those arrested were accused of “posing a threat to stability.” We have reached out to the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa but have not heard anything back. Press reports have not identified the name nor rank of the detained diplomat.

Ambassador Lippert was attacked and slashed in the face by a Korean nationalist at about 7:40 a.m. local time Thursday (2240 GMT Wednesday) at a forum hosted by the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation in Seoul. The attack took place in a government arts centre across the street from the heavily guarded US embassy.

He was treated at Yonsei University’s Severance Hospital where he underwent a two and a half hour surgery that required 80 stitches.

A small fruit knife was used in the attack.

The attack resulted on a gash on the ambassador’s face measuring 11 centimeters (4 inches) long and 3 centimeters (1 inch) deep, located from his right cheekbone to jaw on the right side of his face and a puncture wound on his left wrist, causing nerve damage that was repaired. There was reportedly no major damage to his facial nerves or salivary glands. Reports say he will be hospitalised for three or four days.

The forum organizer denied that the alleged assailant was a member. “Kim was able to gain admittance by taking advantage of a bureaucratic oversight, saying he was from an old group that no longer exists but remains on the organization’s list. He said it was an annual event and there had been no such incident like this in past, so they did not request extra police presence.” The assailant who was caught and identified also tried to attacked the Japanese ambassador to South Korea in 2010 by throwing a piece of concrete. He was reportedly given a suspended jail term for that incident.

Mr. McClenny is a career Foreign Service officer, rank of Minister-Counselor, who joined the U.S. diplomatic service in 1986. He began service as Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas in July 2014.

Immediately prior to this assignment, he served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Prior to that, he was the Principal Officer in Montreal, Canada, and his previous overseas assignments include tours at the U.S. embassies in Manila, London, Guatemala City, Belgrade, and Ottawa. He has also been assigned at the U.S. Department of State and on detail assignments at the National Security Council, in Washington, DC; at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, in London; and at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, in Brussels. Mr. McClenny is a recipient of the Presidential Meritorious Service Award as well as the Superior Honor Award and the Meritorious Honor Award. He speaks Spanish, French, and some Serbo-Croat and Russian.

A native of San Francisco, California, Mr. McClenny enjoyed an itinerant childhood, growing up in several cities around the U.S. and abroad. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Washington, in Seattle, and is a graduate of the State Department’s Senior Seminar. He is married to Katherine Latimer, of Montreal, Canada, and has an adult son and daughter, both of whom live in the U.S. In their spare time, Mr. McClenny and Mrs. Latimer enjoy reading, cinema, scuba diving, active sports, and the outdoors.

U.S. Embassy Caracas is a 20% hardship and 42% COLA post. According to Diplomatic Security’s Crime and Safety 2014 report, the country is listed as the third most violent city in the world — up from sixth place in 2012 — by the Mexican non-governmental organization (NGO) Citizen Council for Public Safety and Criminal Justice (Consejo Ciudadano para la Seguridad Pública y la Justicia Penal).